By Jace Shoemaker, May 11, 2011

All-electric garbage trucks will soon be picking up trash along the streets of a Paris suburb. Courbevoie will receive the very first super quiet, zero-emission truck on May 12, 2011.  The “first ever fully electric refuse trucks” project is the collaborative effort between Dow Kokam, PVI and SITA France.

Capable of travelling up to 44 miles per hour fully loaded, the all-white, 26-ton vehicles are powered by an advanced lithium battery system “containing five strings of seven battery packs equivalent to 250 kilowatt hours.” The battery systems, supplied by Dow Kokam, as well as the trucks are produced and assembled in France.

The sanitation trucks can operate for eight hours without being recharged and a modular battery pack allows a partial recharge during the daily route. According to the company, each zero-emission vehicle will eliminate approximately 130 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.  And because the trucks are practically noise-free, collecting trash during the evening hours when traffic is not as heavy may be possible.

All of the city’s existing trucks will be replaced by new electric trucks. According to SITA France, 11 new garbage trucks are expected to be operational by December 2011.

This is a cross-post from EnergyBoom.com.

EnergyBoom is a global leader in energy news information, offering expert analysis on the world economy’s transition to cleaner, more efficient and more secure sources of energy. 

Original Post: http://www.energyboom.com/transportation/first-fully-electric-garbage-trucks-roll-out-france